America has seen a large degree of economic down turn in the past few years. Now that we are supposed to be out of the recession, the educational opportunities that are available to people are going to affect how quickly we are able to pull ourselves away from this recession. People are going to find that they need to re-educate themselves in new careers or they may need to upgrade their educations. As new job opportunities arise, we are going to need people to fill those positions and that will require a new attitude towards education.
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As the economy changes, the needs of employers change as well. In order for the labor market to keep up with the demands of the economy, it needs to re-educate potential employees. Since many employees have been unemployed for a long period of time, government will need to create incentives for re-education.
There are many types of incentives that governments, educational facilities, and employers can offer. Some of them include…
Job guarantees – Employers may wish to set aside a number of jobs for people who graduate from a specific program or a specific school.
Bursaries/grants – These ease the financial burden of those who are willing to re-educate.
Upgrading opportunities for those that work in specific fields – This encourages those who already have some knowledge in an industry to upgrade their education to fulfill the demands for more skilled positions.
Companies may offer recruitment bonuses.
Tuition reimbursement – Those who have completed degrees over the past few years may be eligible to have part of their tuition reimbursed when they take a job in certain companies or in certain locations.
Housing, daycare, or relocation assistance – Employees are more likely to take jobs in new locations if they are able to find help with housing, daycare, and moving.
Many people have been unemployed for a significant period of time; these people will need re-education more than most. Many of the unemployed have not had to search for a job for a long time, so education on the job search practice will be beneficial. They may also need to completely re-evaluate the field that they were in and consider taking courses for a new career. Policies in government and unemployment agencies can help with this by offering financial incentives for going back to school. Those who have been unemployed for a long period of time will need encouragement, because moving into a new career is something that can be very difficult and intimidating.
When the economy changes, the demand for employees in certain sectors tends to change as well. Where an industry may have once been a major supplier of jobs, they may take a longer time to recover from a recession. Those who worked in those industries may need to change career direction. Education and the accessibility of courses that are affordable will affect how many take up the opportunity to move in a new career direction.
The unemployed workforce and the industries of America can work together by creating opportunities for education. Governments and educational institutes can collaborate by offering incentives for encouragement. Information sessions, counselors, and guidance will help the unemployed sector become employable once again.
This is a guest post by Stephen Cline who has an MBA and has worked in the finance industry. You can follow him on Twitter @stephlines or check out his writing at http://www.economiccrisisblog.com/.
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